|
|
Article: Joel Mabus: hopelessly midwestern. (Sing Out! Spotlight).
- Article from:
- Sing Out!
- Article date:
- January 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Sing Out Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Joel Mabus had only been playing festivals for a few years when he found himself at the Walnut Valley Festival on a workshop stage surrounded by Norman Blake, Doc Watson, and Dan Crary. This, for most guitar players, would be a dream come true and a nightmare all rolled into one. For Joel, it was an opportunity to give thanks that his mother opted not to rent the trombone suggested by his fourth grade music teacher. "Why do that," she wondered aloud, "when we have a perfectly good mandolin in the house?" It was that mandolin, and several other musical instruments lying around, that gave Joel Mabus the confidence to sit with his heroes and take his turn on "Black Mountain ...